[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 51 (Tuesday, May 3, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: May 3, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       WHERE'S THE ECONOMIC BOOM?

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                           HON. BARNEY FRANK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 3, 1994

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, many of us have become 
concerned about the Federal Reserve Board's determination to fight hard 
against inflation, long before it even threatens to appear, in a manner 
that could jeopardize our ability to complete our recovery from the 
serious economic problems of recent years. One very thoughtful 
expression of these concerns appeared in the Wareham Courier, on April 
21. In her column Our Town, which appear in the Wareham Courier and 
several other papers in southeastern Massachusetts which are part of 
the same chain, Linda Ahlborg deftly underlines the concerns many of us 
have about the danger that a high interest rate policy aimed at the 
distant problem of inflation will do some damage to many vulnerable 
people economically in the near term. I ask that the column be printed 
here.

               [From the Wareham Courier, Apr. 21, 1994]

                       Where's the Economic Boom?

                           (By Linda Ahlborg)

       Here in Southeastern Massachusetts, it's hard to find 
     evidence of the boom which has Federal Reserve Board members 
     so worried.
       People in the Wareham area are unemployed and 
     underemployed. Many businesses are struggling. And the legal 
     advertisements are filled with tales of woe as countless 
     homes go up for mortgagee sale.
       There's bad economic news statewide as well as major 
     companies like Digital plan further layoffs.
       Perhaps, in deciding to force a hike in interest rates to 
     prevent a nowhere to be seen inflationary spiral, the Fed was 
     looking toward North Carolina or some other Sun Belt state.
       But no one has ever suggested that, as North Carolina goes, 
     so goes the nation and the areas that have been traditional 
     bell weathers--California and the Northeast--are hardly 
     booming.
       Nor, despite the fact credit card debt remains fairly 
     constant, is there much sign of extravagance on the part of 
     consumers. These are the conservative '90s, not the 
     expansionist '80s, and people are demanding their money's 
     worth and more. Bargains are definitely ``in.''
       But the Fed doesn't see it that way. Its traditional 
     economic indicators are pointing upward. Inflation surely 
     must be just around the corner.
       That attitude makes it tough on areas like this one that 
     are still struggling and isn't much fun for individual 
     investors with money in stocks and mutual funds.
       It's enough to make states righters of us all.

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